Picturing Theology, Revised Edition

Picturing Theology, Revised Edition | 347

1.3 Responsibilities for Those Who Seek God’s Kingdom The implications of the Kingdom of God for mission can be delineated in three central truths. A kingdom-centered theology and missiology will be concerned for: • Evangelizing so that people are converted to Christ as Lord. • Creating churches where people are discipled and bear fruit. • Helping the Church live out its commitment to bring freedom, wholeness, and justice in the world. Thus: A truly Kingdom-centered theology . . . can never neglect the call for the conversion of persons among all peoples and religious communities. To everyone of whatever religious persuasion the message must be repeated: “The Kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the Gospel.”. . . Kingdom-centered theology entails a call to recognition of the lordship of the King and new orientation to the constitution of His Kingdom. In the absence of this aspect, proclamation of the good news of the Gospel is impossible. A theology and missiology informed by the biblical notion of the rule of Christ will never fail to identify personal conversion as one of the inclusive goals of God’s Kingdom . . . The Church . . . is raised up by God among all nations to share in the salvation and suffering service of the Kingdom . . . The Church constitutes the firstling, the early harvest of the Kingdom. Thus, although not limited to the Church, the Kingdom is unthinkable without the Church. Conversely, growth and expansion of the Church should not be viewed as ends but rather as means to be used in the service of the Kingdom. . . . The keys of the Kingdom have been given to the Church. It does not fulfill its mandate by relinquishing those keys but rather by using them to open up the avenues of approach to the Kingdom for all peoples and all population groups at every level of human society . . . Finally, the gospel of the Kingdom addresses itself to all immediate human need, both physical and mental. It aims to right what is wrong on earth. It enjoins engagement in the struggle for racial, social, cultural, economic, and political justice. . . . The good news of the Kingdom has to do with all of these things. For this reason missiology must bend its efforts to the erection of a multiplicity of visible signs of God’s Kingdom throughout the length and breadth of this planet (Verkuyl 1993, 72-73). Evangelism, church planting and development spring from a common theological base: a desire to live out the implications of the Kingdom of God which has broken into this present age in the person of Jesus Christ, the King of kings. This Kingdom is both already and not yet . It is currently